Page 33 of Back in Blood

“Thank you. This looks so good.”

“You been good though? You still under the weather, or are you good now?”

I paused as I thought about whether I wanted to share the news with Sage. I would feel bad if I did because I hadn’t even told Gwen, Gemini, Ariyana, my parents, or Malik. But I felt like I needed to tell somebody.

“I went and got myself pregnant,” I confessed in a low tone.

Sage’s brows lifted. “It’s none of my business and feel free to curse me out, but are you pregnant by Capri?”

My heart drummed in my chest, and I remained silent. He gave a slight head nod.

“You two have a lot in common.”

“Yeah, we do, but I don’t know if that’s a good thing. We aren’t like that. We just,” I shrugged.

“No need to explain. Are you happy?”

“Yeah, I am. And a little sad. And a little scared.”

“All of those are valid emotions. Just take your time and feel whatever it is that you need to feel. No emotion is right or wrong.”

I smiled as I studied Sage’s handsome face. “Handsome, wise, smart. Aside from your head being a little big, what are your other flaws because the good attributes seem to outweigh the bad,” I jested.

A good hearty laugh escaped Sage’s throat. “Not you roasting me about the size of my head after I brought you food.”

“I know. That was wrong of me. I apologize.”

“No, you don’t.”

Again, I laughed. Louder. Sage was good at easing my spirit. I wasn’t sure what it was about him, but most times I was in his presence, he gave me what I needed. Normalcy. A listening ear. He didn’t try too hard to push up on me. His presence wasn’tuncomfortable or awkward. Sage was a really good guy and from what I could tell, he was going to make some woman very lucky.

“I’m still kind of in shock about being pregnant. Aside from Capri, you’re the only person that I shared the news with. Please don’t say anything. And if Gemini finds out I told you before her, I’ll never be forgiven.”

“Your secret is safe with me.”

Sage and I had a brief stare down. I wouldn’t completely count him out just yet, but maybe another time another place, we could have been. Anything was possible, but I didn’t see him waiting nine months for me to have another man’s child.

“I can’t have kids.”

My brows pinched together from Sage’s random confession. “Why not?”

“Low sperm count or some shit. I got tested years ago. When I was too busy to even maintain a relationship, my girlfriend at the time was obsessed with having a baby. That was stupid as hell because if I didn’t even have time to be a good boyfriend. I knew I damn sure didn’t have time to be a father. But my dumb ass kept having unprotected sex with her. Nothing ever happened. After we broke up, she was pregnant by someone else five months later. That prompted me to go get tested.”

“Wow. I’m sorry to hear that. There’s nothing that can be done to correct it?”

“Of course there are things I can try, but there’s no guarantee. Honestly, I’m good with it. At this rate, I’ll be old as hell before I settle down anyway. As long as my soulmate already has kids or doesn’t want any, I’ll be good.”

I gave him a small smile. Sage seemed perfect in damn near every way. Three kids used to be my magic number but after losing one, if two kids were all I gave birth to then that’s what it would be. I’d come to the conclusion that I could no longer plan my life to the T. Whatever was in God’s plan was all that would happen. Nothing more. Nothing less.

“Whoever ends up with you will be a very lucky woman. And I don’t think you’ll be old before you settle down. You’re quite the catch.”

Sage kept me company for another hour. When he left, I took a shower and prepared for bed. I had work the next day. As I brushed my teeth, I told myself that I’d give it two more weeks before I started telling my friends and family that I had a baby on the way.

CHAPTER 19

CAPRI

I satat a red light bobbing my head to the song playing while I waited on Lisa to come back to the phone. “My bad,” she picked up sounding out of breath. “I had to find something to throw on. After a good hour, I finally decided what I want to eat.”

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